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November 4, 2016

Death in the Late Medieval Period: The Black Plague

During the 1300’s, strong thirsts for power between countries, religious divisions in Europe, and competition for trade routes were common. Trade routes connected the Eastern Hemisphere with the trade of various goods and information, and controlling these trade routes proved to be rewarding. Unfortunately, these trades routes “also likely carried the deadly plague that killed as many as half of all Europeans within seven years, in what is known as the Bubonic Plague.”1

Beginning in 1348, Bubonic Plague infested merchant ships sailing from the Black Sea to Mediterranean ports, causing so much death that it was common for ships to enter European docks and harbors with at least the majority of the crew dead. Despite efforts to prevent ships from reaching land and spreading the disease, the Bubonic Plague made its way ashore. Unfortunately, people found out how contagious the Bubonic Plague was as it swept through Sicily, Italy, and into the rest of Europe. As a result of the virtual inability of people to stop the spread, many suffered and died.

The spread of the Black Plague in 1348
The spread of the Black Plague in 1348 | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

At the height of the Bubonic Plague, it had spread from China to London, devastating entire villages and bringing trade to a virtual standstill. It has been estimated that as many as 200 million people lost their lives as a result of the Bubonic Plague. In fact, it had a mortality rate that varied between regions.2 Although the Black Death was responsible for killing millions of people in Europe, it was a strong force in influencing the structure of power in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Marchione di Coppo Stephani, a chronicler who lived through the ravages of the plague in Florence during the summer of 1348 wrote,

At every church they dug deep pits down to the water level; and thus those who were poor who died during the night were bundled up quickly and thrown into the pit; they then took some earth and shoveled it down on top of them; and later others were placed on top of them and then another layer of earth, just as one makes lasagna with layers of pasta and cheese.3 

It not only underlines the crisis for a major European city, generated by the death of tens of thousands of people, but also demonstrates how, even in recording such a profound crisis, a chronicler might evoke a homely, if provocative, image of lasagna.4 People believed that the world was coming to an end. Who was to blame? Other religions, or was it God punishing people for their sins?

As a result of much death and destruction on a scale that people have never seen before, people began wondering if God had been punishing them all along. There was no safe haven for people, even in isolated Russia, for the Black Plague did not hesitate to take any lives—every one was a target.

In the same year [1346], God’s punishment struck the people in the eastern lands, in the town Ornach [on the estuary of the River Don], and in Khastorokan, and in Sarai, and in Bezdezh [at an arm of the River Volga], and in other towns in those lands; the mortality was great among the Bessermens, and among the Tartars, and among the Armenians and the Abkhazians, and among the Jews, and among the European foreigners, and among the Circassians, and among all who lived there, so that they could not bury them [sic]. 5

In fact, religious hatred and persecution was very inhumane and common. With the strong belief that other groups were responsible for the Plague, the methods involved in persecuting other religious groups were cruel. Some common examples were: burning, stoning, decapitation, and exile.

The Black Death was devastating. It had killed millions of people across Europe and Asia. Anarchy, fear, and insecurities dominated the landscape in Europe during the 1300’s.[ 5. Sharon N. DeWitte, “Age Patterns of Mortality During the Black Death in London, A.D. 1349–1350,” Journal of Archaeological Science 37, no. 12 (December 1, 2010): 3394-3400,  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3094018/ (accessed October 12, 2016).]

  1.  Andrew Lawler, “How Europe Exported the Black Death,” Science 352, no. 6285 (April 29, 2016): 501–2.
  2. Encyclopedia Britannica, February 2015, s.v. “Black Death.”
  3. Marchione Di Coppo Stefani, “The Florentine Chronicle,” 1903-1913, accessed, October 18, 2016.  http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/osheim/marchione.html.
  4.  John Henderson, “Debating Death and Disease,” History Today 64, no. 4 (April 2014): 58–59.
  5.  Celestine Bohlen, “Diphtheria Epidemic Sweeps Russia,” The New York Times, January 29, 1993, sec. World, http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/29/world/diphtheria-epidemic-sweeps-russia.html.

Tags from the story

Black Death

Bubonic Plague

Recent Comments

Joshua Tinajero

It is sad to hear about the immense amount of lives that were lost due to the bubonic plaque. Just to make sense of it all, people turned to religion, ultimately convincing themselves that it was a direct message of gods wrath. Good read, keep up the great work!

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22/11/2016

4:29 pm

Mariana Sandoval

I thought the quote from Marchione di Coppo Stephani was really interesting (specifically with how he used ‘lasagna’ to compare the layers for burials they used due to the high volume of people dying). I liked how you brought up religion in this context.

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07/12/2016

4:29 pm

Aaron Jaramillo

Interesting article. How sad that over 2 million people died due to this horrific plague. It is crazy that when we as humans cannot explain something or something is as bad as the Black plague that people seem to assume that God is punishing people. After reading the explanation of the massive graves I will never be able to eat lasagna the same again.

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07/12/2016

4:29 pm

Teresa Valdez

Wow, I never realized that the plague spread so widely. The article was very descriptive, giving me an understanding of the extent to which people were panicking about the plague. It is very apparent through descriptions of persecutions and death that something terrifying must be happening in order for the survivors to react as they did. The article set up the tone of suffering well. If my whole city, or “village” were dying, I would probably think the world was ending too.

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19/01/2017

4:29 pm

Mario De Leon

It is sad to read how many people suffered from this plague but astonishing to see how fast a disease can spread and to see the affects it has on the world. I found it interesting that people thought that God had brought the plague as punishment. It shows how religion played a big role in society and how it influenced how people thought.

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20/01/2017

4:29 pm

Anayeli Prieto

I remember reading about the bubonic plague in high school and it was unfortunate that explorers had to take very serious risks when traveling to other places in the world because they didn’t realize that they could be spreading diseases that can affect everyone living in the continent. Although it was very unfortunate and deadly, it was a major part in history that had helped us evolve in medicine and knowledge and had been a major contribution to what we have became.

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20/01/2017

4:29 pm

Sam Vandenbrink

This article reminds you of a dark part time. And makes someone think about and be grateful for how far technology has come and how much we have to be grateful for. The advances in technology and medicine have made our world a much better place to live in. The families and children that had to be terrified for each other not knowing when another person might drop dead. Its a blessing to be able to know that medicine has came such a long way, that having another black plague was very unlikely!

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24/01/2017

4:29 pm

Gabriela Medrano

The Plague is a difficult topic to write about given that it is written about time and time again. However, I was interested in reading this article because it provided a different vibe than say a passage from a textbook so well done. It took on a geographical yet theological approach to the devastating results of this deadly disease, which is a good way to put it because both were influential factors that expressed the desperation of all mankind during this era.

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27/01/2017

4:29 pm

Samuel Sanchez

It’s interesting how many people perished because of this plague. It’s amazing how a plague can drastically change the lives of people. Constantly living in fear, never knowing who was going drop dead next. I liked the quote from Marchione di Coppo Stephani it really gave you a feel of what the people would see on the daily basis and how it looked like lasagna. It really changes how you look at lasagna now.

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27/01/2017

4:29 pm

Oscar Portillo

Unfortunately, the Bubonic Plague was a killer epidemic which we have not seen since. A good read and very interesting to know that there was too many bodies to bury to the point that they just threw them in a pit. Also, it was a sad commentary on society as a whole when they were looking for a scapegoat and took it out on people who were not responsible for it. One of those groups were the Jews who were highly persecuted by their surrounding society since they were not nearly hit as hard as anyone else.

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27/01/2017

4:29 pm

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